How to tell the difference between males and females

Peach Face Lovebirds are sexually monomorphic, which means, the male and female
look alike sexually.

1. I have had many people telling me that a female lovebird is generally bigger in
size. A somewhat broader shoulder. And I also have another few that tell me that
the shape of their tail will tell their sexuality. I have a a pair of lovebird
and it so happens that the male looks a bit larger then the female. So I happen

mistake my male for a female for a while.

2. Furthermore, I have also heard that a female lovebird will shred papers, put
on its back and take it back to the nest. A male, however, will sometime try
doing the same and end up failing. Coincidentally, my female lovebird love
shredding papers but also fail to bring it back to the nest box.

3. In logical thinking, if you see a pair of lovebirds mating, you can rightfully
assumed that one is a male and the other a female, right? Wrong. I have read up
on a certain book that lovebird of the same sex might also go thru the mating
process.

So can you imagine my feeling when I read that. Inside me I thought that I might
have a pair of same sex lovebirds. But all that change after a certain event. My
bird started to lay eggs. So that means I have a female. Perharps from somewhere
you might have hear before that two females can also get together and lay eggs.
Fortunately, only 1 of the bird is laying and the other is standing guard just
like what a male is suppose to.

So after rearing lovebirds for a while now, I have created some guidelines for
myself which can be use as a reference to determine the sex of a peach face
lovebird.

1. A female lovebird perch with its legs wider than a male lovebird. Although some
says that they do see a male lovebird perching wider than a female lovebird. In
this case, how I wish I can show the picture of my female lovebird to show exactly
how wide my female lovebird is actually perching.

2. Any lovebird that lay eggs, it is a guarantee that the lovebird is a female.

3. By feeling their pelvic bone but unless you are very experience. I will suggest
to not try this method. Because, both the male and female lovebird pelvic bone
will feel the same to you if aren't experience enough.

4. Get a short nail, tie its head to a thread, hold the lovebird upside down and
hang the tip of the nail near the part where it poop while you hold on the end
of the thread. It should look like you are somewhat holding a pendulum above the
lovebird. Make sure the nail is not swinging about. Wait for a few seconds, if
the nail start swinging in circles, the lovebird is a male. However, if the nail
start swinging from left to right and right to left, you have got a male!

5. Last but not least, the most guaranteed way. A DNA test.